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From Pu Jingwan's tone, it was clear that Ye Zichen's wounds were severe. They couldn't afford to delay treatment.

Furthermore, tending to his wounds required an absolutely safe environment, as if they were interrupted part way through, it would only make things worse.

That's why they couldn't treat his wounds here and now, in the Bai Family estate.

The Yao-Sealing Pagoda would have been the perfect place, except Ye Zichen was its master, and they couldn't enter without his help. Their best choice was to leave the Bai Family estate as quickly as possible and rush to the Profound Pavilion.

Xuan Ji had run the Profound Pavilion to the full extent of her abilities for ten thousand years. Even if the God Emperor wanted to break the appearance of harmony between them, he'd have to think twice first.

Thing is, given their circ.u.mstances, they couldn't leave just because they wanted to.

Someone needed to stay back and cover their escape.

"You two…." Pu Jingwan pursed her lips. It would have been best for all of them to escape forever, but they couldn't turn the situation here around just like that. After all, the Bai Family outnumbered them, and their ranks included numerous experts.

But if the yao servants of the Yao-Sealing Pagoda and the Outsider rulers all left, even the likes of Yang Jian and the Great Sage would struggle to escape this predicament.

She couldn't deny it: both of them were strong. But the Bai Family was no soft persimmon either!

Nevermind the others, just the man floating before them would be a troublesome opponent.

"Leave!" Yang Jian roared, eyes bloodshot. He and the Great Sage had made their decision, and they were ready to throw themselves to their deaths if need be. Besides, they were strong enough that the result wasn't certain doom. Pu Jingwan had already said that they couldn't afford to delay Ye Zichen's treatment, so there was no time to waste talking things over.

"Let's go." Pu Jingwan took a deep look at Yang Jian, then at the Great Sage, before lifting Ye Zichen with her divine power. Xiao Yumei and the Profound Pavilion Divine Generals formed a protective circle around him and prepared to break through their encirclement.

The rapier-wielding man floating overhead arched his brows, and his expression shifted slightly. "Are you trying to leave?"

"Don't even try it. With us bros here, there's no way we'll let you stop them from leaving."

There was no wind, yet Yang jian's robes fluttered about. He raised his lance and cut a silver streak in the air. The faint, illusory pattern of the starry sky appeared in his pupils.

His aura, dark as night, billowed around him, and his entire figure started to distort.

Bam!

The middle-aged man tossed Bai Yulong into the dirt, stirring up a wave of dust.

Even though Bai Yulong coughed up blood on impact, the man didn't so much as look at him.

Although he'd saved Bai Yulong's life just now, from his performance afterward, it seemed Bai Yulong's life or death wasn't all that important to him.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have used Bai Yulong to block the Great Sage's staff, nor would he have tossed Bai Yulong so casually to the ground.

The man ignored Bai Yulong, but in stark contrast, he seemed quite interested in Yang Jiang and the Great Sage. He glanced first at one, then the other, evaluating them.

Brilliant light on one side, pure darkness on the other. The sight was so strange, the man laughed in bewilderment. "The Star of Slaughter and the Victorious Fighting Buddha?" The man recognized them both at a glance. Clearly, he was no ordinary person.

It wasn't so strange that he recognized the Great Sage; the Buddhist Domain was famous, and the middle-aged man had lived in the God Realm his whole life. However, the Star of Slaughter served the North Star, the Emperor Star. It was rare for someone who wasn't a star bearer to know of him, especially since the Star of Slaughter was an auxiliary star, and the least well-known of the bunch at that.

None of them made any sudden movements.

Although the man only stood there, seemingly casually, he had no openings whatsoever.

From the middle-aged man's perspective, Yang Jian and the Great Sage were the same. Furthermore, they were the Star of Slaughter and the Victorious Fighting Buddha. He wasn't absolutely sure he could take them, either.

Time dragged on, bit by bit…

A long time had passed, but none of them took action. They merely remained on high alert. Yang Jian and the Great Sage were perfectly content to accept this.

The longer they delayed him, the better.

"Forget it." After a lengthy stare down, the middle-aged man was the first to break the stalemate.

He put his sword back in its sheath. Seeing this, Yang Jian and the Great Sage couldn't help but knit their brows.

"We can't do anything against each other, and since you're content to keep me here, I'll happily oblige. My name is Bai Haoyu. Might I ask your names?"

Yang Jian and the Great Sage remained silent.

"If you don't wish to speak, that's fine. But there's something I don't quite understand. One of you is the Star of Slaughter, the other, the Victorious Fighting Buddha. How on earth are you standing together so harmoniously? The last Master of the Star's Star of Slaughter was bitter enemies with the Buddhist Domain, as was the Star of Slaughter before him."

This was the truth.

The Star of Slaughter was of the darkness, and he was tasked with taking care of business too unrighteous to see the light of day on the Emperor Star's behalf. The Buddhist Domain, meanwhile, was holy. They detested this sort of behavior more than anyone. The two of them were opposed on a fundamental level, their attributes in direct conflict. The Star of Slaughter always detested the Buddhist Domain.

And the Buddhist Domain had always detested them right back.

Yang Jian was working so harmoniously with the Great Sage despite his intense yang aura. Bai Haoyu simply didn't get it.

"You still don't want to talk?" Bai Haoyu sighed and shook his head. He was a man of few words, and in order to pry for an explanation, he'd practically used up an entire year's allowance of words. Yet all he'd gotten in return was silence. He couldn't help but feel it wasn't worth it.

Yang Jian and the Great Sage didn't deny it.

"If I'm not mistaken, you two are the strongest of your group. Yet in order to stall me, you're both staying behind. Is that well-advised?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" asked Yang Jian.

Bai Haoyu was the strongest expert in the entire Bai Family. Although there were quite a few rulers outside, if Xiao Yumei and the others wanted to force their way out of the estate, those ruelrs weren't enough to stop them. The only one truly capable of posing a threat was this Bai Haoyu. Staying here to delay him was a good deal, no matter how they looked at it.

Bai Haoyu, naturally, knew exactly what they were thinking.

But he still seemed calm and unhurried. Based on his expression, he was in no hurry to intervene in what was going on outside.

Could it be that he wasn't interested in the Bai Family's affairs, and that those clansmen fighting and dying outside didn't matter to him? Could it be that he was just here to protect Bai Yulong?

That was possible, but the odds of that seemed low.

But if that wasn't the case, why was he so willing to stay here and let them stall him?

"Wine and Revelry!" Before they could respond, they heard the God of Wine's shout, followed by a massive explosion.